Utility caddy for roller painting

ABSTRACT

A utility caddy or portable carrier for paint roller pans and accessories comprising a relatively deep tray, a raised platform adapted to support and retain paint roller pans of varying sizes, large wheels supporting the forward end of the tray, a friction heel supporting the rear end of the tray, and an adjustable handle for pushing the caddy from place to place. Drip troughs surrounding the raised platform catch paint spilled while filling the roller pan or wetting the roller and are also adapted to carry and store the paint roller and miscellaneous painting tools.

[54] UTILITY CDY FOR OLLER 1P [72] Inventor: David M. Hayden, 3646-11Falling Spring Rd., Columbia, S.C. 29203 [22] Filed: Dec. 10, 1970 [21]Appl. No.: 96,832

[52] US. Cl ..15/257, 15/248 [51] Int. Cl. ..B05c 11/16 [58] Field ofSearch ..15/257.06, 246, 248, 257, 104, 15/1; 68/233, 213;280/47.1247.34, 47.35

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,341,876 9/1967 Campbell..15/1 2,694,825 11/1954 Touchett et al... ....15/257.06 1,661,9313/1928 Dolan ..15/104R 3,407,429 10/1968 Di Nardo ..15/257 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 67,717 10/1957 France ..l5/257.06 843,658 6/1970Canada ..15/257 Primary Examiner-Leon G. Machlin AttomeyTownsend M.Belser, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A utility caddy or portable carrier for paint roller pansand ac cessories comprising a relatively deep tray, a raised platformadapted to support and retain paint roller pans of varying sizes, largewheels supporting the forward end of the tray, a friction heelsupporting the rear end of the tray, and an adjustable handle forpushing the caddy from place to place, Drip troughs surrounding theraised platform catch paint spilled while filling the roller pan orwetting the roller and are also adapted to carry and store the paintroller and miscellaneous painting tools.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented May 23, 1972 3,663,982

I INVENTOR DAVID M. HAYDEN -F.z7..5 BY

' Jazz/71W 77?. 6m,

ATTO EY UTILITY CADDY FOR ROLLER PAINTING BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Thisinvention relates to portable caddies or carriers for containers, andmore specifically to a caddy adapted to carry a paint roller pan and allthe accessories required for roller painting with latex type paints. Thecaddy is novelly constructed in such a manner that the user thereof canreadily move the pan containing the paint to any location desired andpick up the paint with the applicator or roller without ever bendingover or delaying the painting process.

Prior to the present invention, it has been the usual practice to placethe roller pan upon a drop cloth or other protective floor coveringbefore filling the pan with paint from the container in which it waspurchased. The filled pan is then placed at a fixed location upon a dropcloth near the area to be painted and both the pan and the drop clothmust be picked up and moved before the paint can be applied to a newsection of wall or other area. In addition, screwdrivers, trimmers,touch-up brushes, and other painting accessories are usually spreadaround randomly on the drop cloth and, if not misplaced or lost, mustconstantly be retrieved for use in a new area. The use of a conventionalroller paint pan can thus be a laborious and messy task requiring apainter to make frequent trips back and forth to the paint pan and tomove both the paint pan and its underlying drop cloth when the distanceto the pan becomes too great. Both the initial filling of the roller panand the frequent movements for which it is not designed often result inthe spilling or dripping of paint onto exposed floor or carpet. All ofthe foregoing steps and incidents require frequent stops in the paintingprocess in order to move paint pans, drop cloths and the other paintingaccessories, and to clean up spilled paint.

Although the prior art discloses carriers and caddy-type devices forcontainers of various types, none of those devices are capable ofportably supporting a conventional roller paint pan. Furthermore, noneof the prior art devices are designed to conveniently transport paintrollers and other painting tools and accessories.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION With the foregoing background and prior art inmind, one of the principal objects of the present invention is toprovide an easily portable, hand-operated caddy of novel design capableof holding and retaining a conventional roller paint pan in its operableposition and preventing spillage of paint to underlying surfaces whilethe pan is filled, used and transported from place to place with itsnormal load of paint.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable caddy adaptedto permit movement and use of the paint pan without stooping or bendingover and without interrupting the painting process.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a portablecaddy for roller paint pans wherein the main body component thereof maybe easily and economically manufactured from a single piece of material,either by using conventional molding techniques with plastics orconventional stamping techniques with sheet metals.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable roller pancaddy having a vertically extending handle adjustable to the height ofthe user and adapted to be readily disassembled for packaging, shipmentor storage of the caddy.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable caddy adaptedto retain and transport roller paint pans of various sizes and to bemoved with one hand.

A further object of the invention is to provide a caddy facilitatingmovement of a roller paint pan over floors and rugs, and over dropcloths and other obstructions, without snagging, and adapted tofrictionally engage underlying surfaces when at rest.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a portable caddyof novel construction for holding a conventional roller paint pan insuch a way as to prevent accidental spills both during movement fromplace to place and while in use, thereby eliminating the need for dropcloths or other floor coverings to protect underlying surfaces.

In addition to the numerous advantages arising by reason ofaccomplishing the foregoing objectives, the present invention has thefurther advantage of simplicity, ruggedness, durability, and ease ofoverall construction and manufacture. The caddy disclosed can be easilyconstructed from relatively few parts, many of which are commerciallyavailable, and its component parts are easily disassembled to facilitateshipment and storage. The exact nature of the invention, as well asother objects and advantages, will be apparent from the annexed drawingsand the following specific description of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS For a better understanding of the presentinvention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the caddy and shows the uppersurface of the raised platform which conforms generally to the bottom ofa conventional roller paint pan.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1 andillustrates in dotted outline the mounted position of a roller pan.

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a second transverse sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the construction detailson the axle and wheel mountings at the forward end of the caddy body.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the construction detailsof the adjustable mounting for the caddy handle at the right rear sideof the caddy body.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Referring now to the drawing andparticularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is illustrated one form ofthe caddy made according to the present invention. As shown in thosefigures, the main body or carriage, generally designated 8, may comprisea relatively deep tray of rectangular shape having vertical sidewalls 9and 10,21 vertical forward wall 15 and a vertical rear wall 16. Risingfrom the bottom or floor 11 of the tray is a centrally located platform12 having an upper surface gradually sloping downward toward the frontend of the tray and flattening out near its lower end to form a shortlevel surface 12-a which terminates at a lower retaining ridge or stop13 as best illustrated in FIG. 2. Rigidly secured to the upper rear faceof platform 12 and extending along the width thereof is a ledge orretaining lip 14 of a size and shape to fit within and engage the rearsupports or legs 42 of a conventional roller paint pan 40 as illustratedin FIG. 2. As shown in that figure, the upper surface of platform 12 andthe contiguous retaining lip 14 conform generally to the shape of theunderside or bottom of a roller paint pan, stop 13 being immediatelyadjacent to the forward end of the largest pan which can be mounted uponthe platform. Although the raised platform 12 is preferably formed as anintegral part of the caddy tray 8 by shaping the bottom 1 1 through amolding or stamping process, the platform 12 may be inserted within aflat bottom tray as a separate component.

In the areas between the side faces of platform 12 and the sidewalls 9and 10, respectively, and between the front face of platform 12 and theforward wall 15, bottom 11 of the tray structure is shaped to form driptroughs 36 as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawing. Thehorizontal distances between the faces of platform 12 and the opposingforward or sidewall of the tray are approximately equal and are selectedboth to provide sufiicient storage space to hold touch-up paint brushes,trimming devices, and the other miscellaneous accessories used in rollerpainting, and to catch paint dripping or spilling from the pan, rolleror other painting device.

Across the rear of the tray 8 and formed integrally with rear wall 16 isa ledge or step 32 which projects inwardly to form a supporting surfacefor the head of a paint roller. The rearwardly projecting retaining lip14 is spaced a sufficient distance from the rear wall 16 to provide achannel to the rear of the paint pan having a width greater than thediameter of the head or applicator portion of a paint roller. A paintroller with its head resting transversely to the caddy body may then becarried in the rear channel thus formed. Below the step 32 is a reartrough 37 which collects residual or excess paint draining from theroller head. This arrangement prevents residual paint from caking on theroller head, as would otherwise occur where such paint partially driesbefore further use of the roller.

The front end of the caddy body is supported on a pair of relativelylarge wheels 17-17, preferably of molded plastic construction, which aremounted on a transversely extending axle 18 rotatably attached to thecaddy near its front end. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, a single,continuous axle extending through apertures in the caddy body ispreferred. Axle 18 is supported within the sidewall apertures byreinforcing metal inserts 20 which act as journals for axle rotation.The wheels 17-17 are each spaced from the caddy body by means of sleeves22 which are of a sufficient length to prevent rubbing between thewheels and sidewalls 9 and 10. Sleeves 22 may be either of a plastic ormetal material. Wheels 1717 may be secured on the outer ends of axle 18by any suitable means, as by friction cap 24 which snaps on andfrictionally engages the outer tip of the axle. A cotter key passingthrough a hole near the tip of the axle would also be an acceptablemeans for retaining wheels I7l7 on the axle. Another structuralalternative would be to rigidly mold either the continuous axle or twoseparate axles into the caddy body and rotatably mount the wheels on theprojecting axle tips.

The diameter of wheels 1717 is an important feature of this inventionand is selected so that the wheels will be large enough to easily rollover and negotiate the edges of drop cloths, tarps, carpets, doorways,and other obstructions on the floor without getting snagged or caughtand without spilling any of the paint held in the roller pan. In thepreferred embodiment, the diameter of wheels 17-17 is greater than thedepth of the caddy tray at its deepest point, namely the rear trough 37.For the same reason, the underside of the bottom 11 at and adjacent tothe forward end of the caddy is constructed with a smooth bottomprofile.

The rear end of the caddy rests upon a depending heel 34 molded orstamped from the container bottom and extending transversely under therear of tray 8 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. An abrasive or non-skid strip25 is affixed, as by an adhesive, to the underside of heel 34 at its tipor lowest point to provide a non-skid supporting surface at the oppositeend of the caddy from wheels 17-17. When movement of the caddy isdesired, the non-skid strip is raised from the floor by a handle means26 and the caddy moved on its forward wheels 17- 17. Upon reaching thespot desired, the rear of the caddy is lowered so that strip 25 restsupon and frictionally engages the floor or other surface in order tohold the caddy in position. Although the non-skid component is shown asa separate strip in the drawings, a non-skid surface may also beprovided on the underside of heel 34 by molding a rough surface at thatlocation or by incorporating an abrasive material into the plastic ofthe heel portion. A separate strip may be comprised of any of thereadily available non-skid materials, such as rubber, felt, or anabrasive mat of glass or plastic filaments.

Handle means 26 is mounted upon the caddy tray at a thickened orreinforced wall portion 33 near the rear of sidewall 9 as shown in FIGS.1 and 6. The wall portion 33 prevents distortion of adjacent portions ofwalls 9 and 16 when the caddy is moved from place to place through theuse of handle 26. Handle 26 may be comprised of two or more extensions,such as threaded sections 26-a and 26-h shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and mayhave a handle grip at the outer end of the last extension piece (notshown). At the inner end of the innermost handle section is a flattenedportion 26-0. In the preferred embodiment, the vertical position ofhandle 26 is adjustable relative to the caddy body. This is achieved byrotatably securing the inner end 26-c of the handle to wall portion 33by means of a rivet-type fastener 27, about which the handle 26 isadapted to swing in a vertical plane parallel to sidewall 9. The arethrough which the handle is allowed to swing is limited by means of abolt 29 passing through both an arcuate slot 28 in the wall portion 33and an aligned aperture in the handle portion 26-c. A washer 30 providesa bearing surface for the head of bolt 29 and the bolt is held inposition by means of a wing nut 31 threaded on its outer end. The centerpoint of the arc followed by slot 38 is rivet fastener 27. The length ofthe slot 28 thereby governs the arc through which handle 26 may swing.Upon tightening the wing nut 31, the bearing surface of washer 30engages the inner face of wall portion 33 adjacent to slot 28 and theflattened surface 26-c of the handle engages the outer face of wallportion 33 to frictionally lock the handle 26 at the position desired.The length of handle 26 may also be altered by increasing or decreasingthe number of handle extensions. These adjustments allow the length andposition of the handle to be varied so as to fit the particular heightand arm length of the user.

The body of the caddy may be comprised of any of the moldable plastics,such as polyethylene or polyvinylchloride, molded into the novel shapeillustrated in the drawings. However, for paints other than thewater-based, latex type, the plastic selected must not be susceptible tothe paint solvent. The caddy body may also be stamped from a singlepiece of metal such as stainless steel. To facilitate the molding orstamping process, the retaining lip 15 is preferably manufactured as aseparate item and then secured to the rear face of platform 12 by anysuitable means, such as with an adhesive in the case of plastics, or byriveting in the case of metals. In either case, an interlockingstructure employing tabs on the lip and corresponding apertures in theplatform may be used.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is designed specifically tocarry a roller pan of a 9 inch or smaller nominal size. The majority ofroller pans sold on the market today are sized for either 7 or 9 inchrollers. Nine-inch and 7 inch roller pans have overall dimensions ofapproximately 1 l X 16 inches and 9 X 16 inches, respectively. The caddydescribed here may be used with those sizes and with smaller pans. Inthe construction of such a caddy, overall dimensions of 2l inches inlength by 15% inches in width are considered to yield an optimum design.The interior platform 12 has overall dimensions of 15% inches in lengthby 11 inches in width, the former including a %-inch wide range 13 and a[34-inch wide retaining lip 14. With such a platform, the shallow orrear end of the larger roller pans will overhand the lip 14 byapproximately one-half inch when their deep or forward end abuts stop 13and the rear legs of the pan hook around and engage the retaining lip asillustrated in FIG. 2. Although shorter pans may not abut against stop13, the frictional engagement between their legs 42 and the lip 14 willsatisfactorily retain them in position on platform 12.

In the foregoing caddy, the forward and side troughs 36 are about 2inches in width which is adequate to receive most of the accessory toolsfor roller painting. The front and side troughs 36 and the rear trough37 are approximately 3 and 4 inches in depth, respectively. The rearchannel above ledge 32 is approximately 3 /zinches in width to provide aspace of about 3 inches to the rear of the roller pan which issufficient to hold roller heads of the most frequently occurring sizes,namely, from 2 to 2% inches in diameter when wet. The overall length ofthe tray may be increased and the width of the rear channel increasedaccordingly to produce a caddy capable of carrying larger roller heads.

Another important feature of the invention is the relation between pandepth and wheel diameter. It has been found that movement of the caddyover rugs, carpets, and other obstructions is facilitated by a wheeldiameter greater than the depth of the pan at its deepest point. Moldedplastic wheels having an outside diameter in the range of between 4 and6 inches greatly improved the mobility of the caddy employing a reartrough depth of 4 inches. A wheel diameter of 5 inches was used in thepreferred embodiment.

A roller pan caddy constructed according to the present inventionprovides a versatile and novel painting and utility platform. Thevarious accessory painting tools can be carried and stored in thetroughs 36 around the forward and side edges of the central platform 12.The painting roller itself can be carried and stored to the rear of theplatform in the space above trough 37. By providing a carriage area forall of the painting tools, those items are retained in one convenientspot and are not easily lost or misplaced. Each tool is readilyaccessible to the painter as he moves the caddy along with him duringthe painting process, thereby eliminating much of the wasted time andeffort previously spent in searching for misplaced items and in frequenttrips to and from a remote paint bucket or utility area. In addition,all of the painting tools and the roller pan itself may be left in thecaddy in their as used condition and stored overnight while stillcontaining residual paint by placing a plastic cover or wrap over theentire caddy tray to prevent the residual paint from drying out. Whendrying out is thus prevented, the paint pan and painting tools may bereused the following day without the necessity of cleaning or removingresidual paint. It has been found that such overnight storage does nothaveany deleterious effect upon the painting operation, at least withlatex type paints. Overnight storage of wet painting equipment isextremely beneficial to the professional painter who otherwise has tospend substantial amounts of time in cleaning his equipment at the endof each working day.

Both the handle and other attachments to the main caddy body are easilyremoved and packaged for shipment or storage. Ease of construction,durability and numerous other advantages flow from the novel caddydesign described and illustrated above.

Although but a single embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed in detail, other embodiments and variations will occur tothose skilled in the art. Thus, as already suggested above, thecentrally located platform 12 may be inserted in a flat bottomed tray asa separate component and may be of a wood, plastic or other material,instead of being formed as part of the caddy body. It is possible, ofcourse, to use various features of the embodiment and variationsdescribed, either separately or in various combinations, and such usesare within the contemplation of the present invention. Furthermore, manystructural changes and substitutions of material are possible and suchchanges are intended to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

lclaim:

1. A utility caddy for roller painting equipment, including a rollerpaint pan having a slanted bottom with supporting legs at its shallowrear end, comprising a rectangular, relatively deep tray open at the topand having fluid retaining side, forward and rear walls of substantiallyuniform height; a fluid retaining bottom connecting said walls; a raisedrectangular platform in the central portion of said tray adapted tosupport the roller pan above the bottom thereof, said platform includingan upper supporting surface conforming to the slanted bottom of theroller pan and a rear retaining lip adapted to engage the rearsupporting legs of said paint pan so as to retain the pan in position onsaid supporting surface; drip troughs surrounding and contiguous withthe base of said platform; a pair of wheels of relatively large diameterrotatably mounted near the forward end of said tray and adapted tosupport the caddy for translational movement; a depending heel near therear of said tray adapted to rigidly support the rear of the caddy andfrictionally engage an underlying surface when resting thereon toprevent translational movement of said wheels; and vertically extendinghandle means mounted near the rear of said caddy tray and adapted toraise said heel from engagement with said surface and render the caddyportable on said forward wheels.

2. A caddy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said central plat- I formincludes a forward stop adapted to abut the deep forward end of a paintpan in position upon said supporting surface.

3. The caddy of claim 1 wherein said depending heel extends transverselyacross the bottom of said tray and has a narrow strip of non-skidsurface on the underside of the lowest portion thereof to frictionallyengage an underlying surface when resting thereon.

4. The caddy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said handle means includes anelongated handle portion, means for rotatably mounting one end of saidhandle on said tray such that its longitudinal axis swings through alimited range of arc in the vertical plane, and means for securing saidhandle at any position within said range of arc.

5. A caddy as claimed in claim 4 wherein said handle is mounted upon asidewall of said tray reinforced to reduce distortion of adjacentportions of the tray body.

6. A caddy as claimed in claim 5 wherein said reinforcing is comprisedof increased wall thickness surrounding the point of attachment of saidhandle.

7. The caddy as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rear wall of said tray isspaced a sufficient distance to the rear of said platform to form achannel for receiving the paint roller head and said wall includes aforwardly projecting shelf adapted to support said roller head over saidrear trough such that residual paint will drain from the roller head andcollect in the trough.

8. The caddy as claimed in claim 7 wherein said side and front driptroughs are adapted to receive and carry accessory painting equipment.

1. A utility caddy for roller painting equipment, including a rollerpaint pan having a slanted bottom with supporting legs at its shallowrear end, comprising a rectangular, relatively deep tray open at the topand having fluid retaining side, forward and rear walls of substantiallyuniform height; a fluid retaining bottom connecting said walls; a raisedrectangular platform in the central portion of said tray adapted tosupport the roller pan above the bottom thereof, said platform includingan upper supporting surface conforming to the slanted bottom of theroller pan and a rear retaining lip adapted to engage the rearsupporting legs of said paint pan so as to retain the pan in position onsaid supporting surface; drip troughs surrounding and contiguous withthe base of said platform; a pair of wheels of relatively large diameterrotatably mounted near the forward end of said tray and adapted tosupport the caddy for translational movement; a depending heel near therear of said tray adapted to rigidly support the rear of the caddy andfrictionally engage an underlying surface when resting thereon toprevent translational movement of said wheels; and vertically extendinghandle means mounted near the rear of said caddy tray and adapted toraise said heel from engagement with said surface and render the caddyportable on said forward wheels.
 2. A caddy as claimed in claim 1wherein said central platform includes a forward stop adapted to abutthe deep forward end of a paint pan in position upon said supportingsurface.
 3. The caddy of claim 1 wherein said depending heel extendstransversely across the bottom of said tray and has a narrow strip ofnon-skid surface on the underside of the lowest portion thereof tofrictionally engage an underlying surface when resting thereon.
 4. Thecaddy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said handle means includes anelongated handle portion, means for rotatably mounting one end of saidhandle on said tray such that its longitudinal axis swings through alimited range of arc in the vertical plane, and means for securing saidhandle at any position within said range of arc.
 5. A caddy as claimedin claim 4 wherein said handle is mounted upon a sidewall of said trayreinforced to reduce distortion of adjacent portions of the tray body.6. A caddy as claimed in claim 5 wherein said reinforcing is comprisedof increased wall thickness surrounding the point of attachment of saidhandle.
 7. The caddy as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rear wall of saidtray is spaced a sufficient distance to the rear of said platform toform a channel for receiving the paint roller head and said wallincludes a forwardly projecting shelf adapted to support said rollerhead over said rear trough such that residual paint will drain from theroller head and collect in the trough.
 8. The caddy as claimed in claim7 wherein said side and front drip troughs are adapted to receive andcarry accessory painting equipment.